Effect of the adapted virtual reality cognitive training program among Chinese older adults with chronic schizophrenia: a pilot study

• Published in: International journal of geriatric psychiatry Vol. 25; no. 6; pp. 643 - 649
• Main Authors: Chan, Christopher L. F., Ngai, Elena K. Y., Leung, Paul K. H., Wong, Stephen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-06-2010; Psychology Press; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aged; Analysis of Variance; Asian people; Biological and medical sciences; China; Chinese; Chronic Disease; chronic schizophrenia; Cognition & reasoning; Cognition Disorders - psychology; Cognition Disorders - therapy; cognitive rehabilitation; Cognitive Therapy - methods; Female; Geriatric psychiatry; Geriatric psychology; Geriatrics; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Older people; Pilot Projects; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychoses; Reeducation. Readaptation. Sociotherapy; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - therapy; Teaching - methods; Treatments; User-Computer Interface; virtual reality; Asia; China; Human; Psychosis; Chronic; chronic schizophrenia; Asiatic; Cognitive remediation; Virtual reality; Schizophrenia; Chinese; Training program; Elderly; cognitive rehabilitation
• ISSN: 0885-6230; 1099-1166
• DOI: 10.1002/gps.2403

Objective
To examine the effect of the adapted virtual reality cognitive training program in older adults with chronic schizophrenia.
Methods
Older adults with chronic schizophrenia were recruited from a long‐stay care setting and were randomly assigned into intervention (n = 12) and control group (n = 15). The intervention group received 10‐session of VR program that consisted of 2 VR activities using IREX. The control group attended the usual programs in the setting.
Results
After the 10‐session intervention, older adults with chronic schizophrenia preformed significantly better than control in overall cognitive function (p  .000), and in two cognitive subscales: repetition (p  .001) and memory (p  .040). These participants engaged in the VR activities volitionally. No problem of cybersickness was observed.
Conclusions
The results of the current study indicate that engaging in the adapted virtual reality cognitive training program offers the potential for significant gains in cognitive function of the older adults with chronic schizophrenia. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.